The United States kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a match against Paraguay in Los Angeles, marking one of the many highlights from the tournament’s draw announced in a lavish event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in December.
The tournament began on June 11 in Mexico City, where Mexico secured a win against South Africa in a Group A match. The following day, the U.S. enjoyed a 4-1 triumph over Paraguay at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, leading them to ultimately top their group. Their success continued into the round of 32, defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on July 1, and they faced Belgium in a round of 16 match on July 6.
Broadcast Details
Fox and Telemundo are the official broadcasters for the tournament in the U.S. Fox Sports is set to deliver 340 hours of programming, including a record 70 matches on the Fox network, more than doubling the coverage from the previous tournament in 2022. All matches will be available live on either Fox or FS1, with 40 of these airing in primetime. Every game is also streamed live and on-demand on Fox One and the Fox Sports App.
From the Round of 16 starting on July 4, every match will be broadcast on Fox. For Spanish-speaking viewers, Telemundo will air all 104 matches live, with 92 on Telemundo and 12 on Universo. All matches will also stream on Peacock for Premium and Premium Plus subscribers, as well as on the Telemundo app.
Fox will air the ‘FIFA World Cup Live’ daily pregame show and ‘FIFA World Cup Today’ for pre-and-post match analysis across Fox and FS1. Additionally, James Corden, former host of the ‘Late Late Show’, will present ‘FIFA World Cup on Fox After Hours with James Corden’ almost every night after the day’s coverage. Tubi, a Fox Corp sibling ad-supported streamer, broadcasted the opening ceremonies and the first two matches, Mexico-South Africa and U.S.-Paraguay, live in 4K for free.
The Groups
The U.S. found themselves in a promising position following the group draw in December, alongside topping Paraguay and Australia, before a defeat to Türkiye on June 25 in Los Angeles. Other notable first-round matches included England vs Croatia in Group L, France vs Senegal in Group I, and defending champions Argentina facing off against Algeria in Group J. Spain, ranked No. 1 in FIFA, began their campaign against Cape Verde, a small African archipelago making its debut in this global football spectacle.
Keep an eye on the TV schedules, scores, and final standings for all 12 groups, as they will be updated with the latest results as the tournament progresses.
The final is scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, promising to be a spectacular culmination of this expanded 48-team tournament. Hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the tournament spans 39 days with a total of 104 games played across 16 host cities in the three countries.
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